Alice Jane Collins

Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 8 at First Baptist Church of Artesia for Alice Jane Collins.

Mrs. Collins, 91, died Friday, January 4, 2019 at Good Life Nursing Facility in Artesia.

Rick Sullivan will officiate at the services with burial to follow at Woodbine Cemetery. Pallbearers will be her grandsons Lane Clark, Kyle Collins, Cory Peyton, Doug Collins, Jayd Collins, and Brandon Haldeman.

Visitation was at Terpening & Son Mortuary Monday, January 7, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The family greeted visitors from 1 – 3 p.m.

Alice was born September 1, 1927 in Muleshoe, Texas, the daughter of Holbert Shirley and Blanche (Wallis) Shirley.

Alice was the oldest of 11 children of Holbert and Blanche Shirley. The family moved to Eastern New Mexico from West Texas when she was a young girl, and the eventually settled in the Floyd, New Mexico community. She graduated from Floyd High School at the young age of 16 because somewhere in their moves she was moved directly from the 3rd grade to the 5th grade. She graduated as a co-salutatorian of her class.

On May 17, 1945, she and Fred Collins were married in Clovis, New Mexico. They lived in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico for the first 3 years of marriage, and they operated a service station during the war at a time when the government was rationing gas and tires. After moving to Portales, Fred and Alice were active in several businesses, including a cafe, a hotel, a lumber yard and construction business and finally a riding stable on 300 acres behind Oasis State Park. In 1967, they moved the 4 younger children to a ranch west of Artesia. Margaret, Elton, Billy, and Silvia each graduated from the Artesia school system. During their time in school, Alice was very involved in PTA’s, FFA programs, athletic events, and whatever else they were participating in. She was very active in the Cowbelle organization and served in many capacities. She became interested in family genealogy and traveled all over with some of her siblings to find and visit with lost cousins.Alice was probably best known for the hundreds of quilts she quilted as gifts to her children, grandchildren, friends, and friends of her children!

Although Alice rarely worked outside the home and the family businesses, she was always working, and always on the go, and always with a positive attitude and a smile on her face. Her brother, Delman, sent a note to Silvia not long ago. He said, “She set the example for her 10 siblings! Then she set the example for her own 7 children”. She loved each and every one of her family members, and she treated each of them the same. Her many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren were the light of her life! Her face would beam with the biggest and most sincere smile as they would walk or run into those open arms to get that gentle hug and kiss.

A quiet and spiritual person by nature, Alice impacted hundreds of people she came in contact with, Even through several years of memory loss, she never lost her spirituality or her sense of humor. Even if she didn’t remember you, she treated you like she had known you forever. And that look she gave Billy Frank every time he teased her was priceless! Her beaming smile shined through it all, even on her final day.

Alice was preceded in death by her husband Fred on June 23, 2011. She was also preceded in death by her brothers: Albert Shirley and Ronnie Shirley; sisters: Arlene Griffith, Marie Kimbrell, and Barbara Goddard; daughter Beverly Clark and son Elton Collins.

The family would like to extend a huge thank you to Ronda Maxwell for her devoted love and care for the past ten years for mom and dad both and also the wonderful staff at GoodLife for the last 30 days and the loving care from Encompass Hospice the last couple of weeks.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Terpening & Son Mortuary. Please remember Mrs. Collins at www.artesiafunerals.com.

We use cookies on our site(s) rdrnews.com (our main site) and Ecwid e-commerce store and for a number of purposes. They help us to provide you with a better experience when you browse our website, and also allow us to improve our site. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. AcceptRejectPrivacy & Cookie Policy

Translate »

You need JavaScript

In order to provide you with the best experience, this site requires that you allow JavaScript to run. Please correct that and try again.